Player ratings - Lions vs Blues

The Lions scrum was solid today and similarly so was McGrath; he made 12 tackles throughout the game however he only had two carries in the 53 minutes that he played.

Advertisement

Ken Owens 6/10

Owens worked hard around the park and managed 6 carries; he threw well at line out time but failed to make a huge impact on the game as a whole.

Dan Cole 5/10

Cole’s and McGrath’s performances were hugely similar with the two of them showing their solidness at scrum time and having a low number of carries however Cole made less then half the number of tackles McGrath did.

Maro Itoje 6/10

Itoje had a solid performance winning a number of lineouts; he offered himself as an attacking threat and used his physicality well around the park.

Courtney Lawes 6/10

Lawes was average enough and wasn’t the dominant force we’ve become accustomed to. He made some typical Lawes hits but in general was fairly quiet.

James Haskell 6/10

Haskell failed to make any lasting impact on the game; he secured no turnovers and only made a few carries going forward.

Justin Tipuric 5/10

Tipuric was seriously quiet and similarly to Haskaell made no real lasting impression on the game.

CJ Stander 7/10

Stander was the stand out man in the pack today; he made a huge amount of carries and put in a number of big hits. Stander scored the Lions only try of the game; the number 8 position is one where there is some real competition.

Rhys Webb 5/10

Webb had an average performance; he had a success rate of 71% and had a number of box kicks that similarly to his performance was average.

Dan BiggarN/A

Biggar was forced off for a HIA just 35 minutes in and never returned to the field.

Elliot Daly 6/10

Daly wasn’t involved in much, not entirely his fault as he didn’t see much ball but there’s no doubt he needs to get more involved.

Robbie Henshaw 6/10

Henshaw was well defended by the Blues and didn’t really make any breaks, however he was solid as a rock in defence with a 100% tackle success.

Jared Payne 5/10

Payne having not played in a while went off with just 47 minutes gone with what looked to be a cramp and did nothing in the game that grabbed our attention.

Jack Nowell 5/10

Nowell didn’t look his usual self at all today, he dropped balls a missed one or two tackles, and we know he has more to offer then what we saw today.

Leigh Halfpenny 6/10

Halfpenny didn’t offer too much around the park yet he had some nice kicks off the tee.

Mentions from the bench

Jonny Sexton 6/10

Sexton came on with 35 minutes gone on the clock, he played slightly better then the last test but again didn’t seem to be up to much.

Liam Williams 4/10

Williams will want to forget about that game, shortly after coming on he gave away a penalty for taking a player out in the air and only a couple of minutes after he received a yellow for the very same offence.